Tycoon makes fortune from Salvation Army donations

A BUSINESSMAN has pocketed more than £5million by selling clothes that are donated to the Salvation Army.

A BUSINESSMAN has pocketed more than £5million by selling clothes that are donated to the Salvation Army.

Nigel Hanger, 56, now lives in a £1million country mansion thanks to the success of his company which trades the items dropped into the charity’s clothing banks.

An investigation showed that Mr Hanger and his fellow directors of Kettering Textiles Limited have earned more than £10million in the past three years by selling the items, while the Salvation Army has received £16.3million.

The government has demanded an explanation and the Charity Commission has launched a review. Mr Hanger’s firm has a deal with the charity to run its 4,500 recycling banks.

As part of the agreement, KTL sells the clothes and creams off a third of the profits.

And business has boomed in the recession because of the rise in demand from second-hand stores in Eastern Europe.

The Sally Army says it is starting to change the wording on its clothing banks to make it clear only two-thirds of the profit goes to the charity.

Shadow charities minister Tessa Jowell said she was “extremely concerned at the suggestion that a charitable organisation has been misrepresented in this manner”. But Mr Hanger, who drew a £1.6million dividend in 2010, insists there is nothing wrong with him profiting from charity.

The dad-of-three, from Finedon, Northants, said: “I’m in business to make profit as best I can in the proper manner and to make as much as I can for my family.”

Salvation Army chiefs say its campaign to fight poverty has been helped by KTL and the firm deserved its cash.